Guru Madhavan

📦 THINKING INSIDE THE BOX. 📖 This #EngineersWeek, I'm pleased to announce 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘 𝗕𝗢𝗫: 𝗘𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 (@wwnorton, April 26, 2026), drawn from "Wicked Problems: How to Engineer a Better World."

Francis Bacon died stuffing a chicken with snow, killed by his own experiment--400 years ago this month. ❄️ His scientific method? Inspired by engineers. My latest for @IEEESpectrum: spectrum.ieee.org/francis-bacon-… @IEEEorg @IEEEUSA #engineering #science #history #philosophy

"In engineering, you are peer-reviewed by reality."

My new @FT piece on the engineer who scheduled the apocalypse for his own birthday—and what it reveals about the strange psychology of doomsday deadlines, and why they differ from the ones that actually govern our lives. ft.com/content/32564d… #engineering #systemsthinking

🚀 My latest in @IEEESpectrum on Robert Goddard: from innovation to isolation, and how leaders can escape the alpha trap—when the stubbornness that helps a pioneer survive skepticism begins to hinder collaboration as the work grows. #engineering @IEEEorg spectrum.ieee.org/robert-goddard…

🔧 Engineers see friction as a design feature, not a flaw. A shock absorber adds weight and complexity—yet without it, the suspension shakes itself apart. Not all resistance is waste, some of it protects systems from their own speed. #engineering

(1/3) Guru Madhavan (@BioengineerGM) reverences the world and all that is in it. Guru is an engineer, but his conception of engineering is more vast than we typically assign to the role.

📘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘 𝗕𝗢𝗫 reinvigorates the legacy of an engineer who transformed our access to the skies, the stars, and the sea. Preorder: wwnorton.com/books/97813241… And thank you, as always. 🙏🏼 #engineering #innovation #creativity #society #aviation #engineersweek #eweek2026

🧠 The confinement in his blue box gave trainees the consciousness of the many angles from which a problem can be approached. "If you are going to build these things," Link said, "you have to have the integrity to test them yourself."

📦 THINKING INSIDE THE BOX. 📖 This #EngineersWeek, I'm pleased to announce 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘 𝗕𝗢𝗫: 𝗘𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 (@wwnorton, April 26, 2026), drawn from "Wicked Problems: How to Engineer a Better World."

In a Perspective, three engineers propose an expansive mode of engineering practice that seeks to reduce conflict. According to the authors, peace engineering requires competence, capability, and character. In PNAS Nexus: ow.ly/rFW750Y7Fk3

The beauty of friction ft.trib.al/K7dUsiY

The beauty of friction ft.trib.al/ZD9cchL | opinion

💡Good #engineering removes friction that impedes and conserves friction that informs. We often miss that nuance. But suppressing friction comes with its own risks; we lose the feedback that taught us how to feel the world.

⚙️ THE BEAUTY OF FRICTION 📰 In my latest for the @FT, I explore why GLP-1 and GPT should force us to ask: which kinds of frictions deserve to stay? 🔗Read here (ft.com/content/f9d6e0…) or 👇🏼

Pleased to draw insights from Albrecht Dürer on how measurement must support human judgment, never supplant it.

Do numbers still mean what they’re supposed to measure? And what did Dürer understand about measurement 500 years ago that feels very relevant today? 🖼️ Select woodcuts & prints by Dürer, all public domain, via the Art Institute of Chicago, The Met, & the British Museum.

✈️ Frequent-flyer “miles” don’t measure miles anymore. We still call them that anyway. It’s a telling inconsistency that hints at a larger issue. 🗞️ In my @FT (@ftweekend) piece, starring Albrecht Dürer, I explore a few things. 🔗 Read here (ft.com/content/5e98d1…) or⬇️